(feminist) rage

Thursday, 10 October 2013

Saturday, 21 September 2013

ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP YOU SORRY PACK OF SPONGEHUFFERS. IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN - THE TIME TO STOP FONDLING YOUR FUCKING SHAMEGLOBES AND WHINING ABOUT WHY YOUR TWO FAVORITE WHITE MIDDLE-TO-UPPER CLASS CISGENDERED MALES WON’T KISS - IT’S TIME TO GET FUCKING ANGRY.

SO YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THAT POST GOING AROUND ABOUT HOW MARVEL AND DC ARE BOTH DUDEBROS BUT AT LEAST MARVEL IS TRYING SOMEWHAT TO BE LESS AWFUL, AND DC IS JUST REVELING IN ITS OWN FRATBOY AWFULNESS. YOU MAY HAVE AGREED WITH THAT POST BUT WONDERED WHAT EXACTLY IT WAS ABOUT. AMONG OTHER THINGS, INCLUDINGNOT FUCKING ALLOWING THE BATWOMAN CREATIVE TEAM TO SHOW THEIR CANONICALLY LESBIAN CHARACTER GETTING MARRIED, THE ABOVE IS WHAT ALL THIS ANGER IS ABOUT.

YES, YOU READ THAT HEADLINE CORRECTLY. NO, THOUGH YOU AND I BOTH DESPERATELY WISH WITH THE POWER OF A THOUSAND DESPERATELY FLAGELLATING FAIRY CORPSES FOR IT TO BE SO, THE HEADLINE IS NOT IN ANY WAY AN EXAGGERATION.

THE BRILLIANT SPANGLEDANGLING GENIUSES OVER AT DC DECIDED THAT THEY WANTED SOME MORE PUBLICITY FOR THEIR UPCOMING NEW SERIES, AND DECIDED TO DO THAT BY OPENING UP A SLOT ON THE CREATIVE TEAM TO THAT MOST SELECTIVE OF POOLS - THE INTERNET. AFTER ALL, IT’S ONLY A FEMALE-LED COMIC ANYWAY - GOTTA SAVE THE BIG GUNS LIKE ORSON SCOTT CARD FOR SUPERMAN, AMIRITE?

SO, IT’S PRETTY FUCKING SIMPLE - ALL YOU GOTTA DO IT DRAW HARLEY QUINN ATTEMPTING TO COMMIT SUICIDE 3 AND A HALF TIMES (THE ONE WITH THE WHAL IS SOMEWHAT AMBIGUOUS), THE LAST OF WHICH IS WHILE SHE IS NAKED, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, SEXUALIZING THE DEATH OF A WOMAN IS SOOOOO COOL AND HIP AND TRENDY.

BUT WHAT IF YOU FIND IT MORALLY OBJECTIONABLE TO MAKE A CONTEST OVER WHO CAN DRAW THE BEST WOMAN IN THE REFRIGERATOR MOMENT, AND WOULD RATHER BE KNOWN FOR DRAWING A KOOKY, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY CHARACTER WITH SOME RATHER IMPACTFUL EMOTIONAL DEPTH TO HER AT TIMES ENGAGED IN ACTIVITIES OTHER THAN SEXILY TRYING TO KILL HERSELF, RIGHT DURING NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION WEEK?

WELL THEN WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TRYING TO GET A JOB AT DC?!

NOT ONLY IS THIS URINE-SOAKED GREASE-ADDLED FUCKWADDLING EXCUSE FOR A CONTEST OFFENSIVELY MISOGYNISTIC AND NOT O0NLY CONTINUES BUT SHINES A FUCKING SPOTLIGHT BRIGHTER THAN THE ORGASM OF TWO HYPERGIANT STARS ENGAGED IN SEXUAL RELATIONS SO KINKY THAT IT MADE 4CHAN SAY “NOW THAT’S A BIT MUCH” ON THE CONTINUED CHILD-LIKE GLEE THE COMICS INDUSTRY HAS IN SHOWCASING THE DEATH, DISMEMBERMENT, AND DEBASEMENT OF FEMALE CHARACTERS, BUT IT0 CONTINUES TO SET THE NORM AT DC THAT IF YOU WANT TO WORK THERE YOU HAVE TO BE DOWN WITH THIS FESTERING MALIGNANCY.

AND THAT’S KIND OF FUCKING TERRIBLE.

FORTUNATELY, AS USUAL, I HAVE SOMETHING YOU CAN FUCKING DO ABOUT IT! REMEMBER HOW I SAID THAT THIS WHOLE FUCKING TRAVESTY WAS A CONTEST? WELL THAT MEANS THAT YOU CAN DIRECTLY SUBMIT AN IMAGE TO DC IN RELATION TO THIS CONTEST.

ANY IMAGE.

IF YOU’VE BEEN ON THE INTERNET AS LONG AS I’VE HAD, THEN YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I’M THINKING. IT’S TIME FOR A GOOD OLD-FASHIONED SPAM WAR.

YOU CAN LITERALLY SUBMIT ANYTHING YOUR HEART DESIRES, FROM A WELL-WORDED TAKE DOWN OF THEIR CURRENT POLICIES (REMEMBER TO PUT IT IN IMAGE FORM THOUGH) TO YOUR FAVORITE NIGHT VALE TENTACLE PORN. I HONESTLY DO NOT CARE, THOUGH THE MORE WE STAY ON MESSAGE THE MORE IT WILL BE CLEAR TO THEM THAT WE ARE ANGRY ABOUT SOMETHING AND NOT JUST SPAMMING THEM BECAUSE, WELL, INTERNET.

SO MAYBE OVERLAY “DC YOU ARE DUMB AND SUICIDE IS NOT SOMETHING TO BE OBJECTIFIED" OVER YOUR CECIL/CARLOS/EREN JAEGER TENTACLE PORN, I DON’T KNOW.

THIS IS A GOOD IMAGE TO GET YOU STARTED:

SO GO, KIDDOS, HAVE FUN, AND SPAM THE FLOPTWIDDLING HORSEMANGLING SPERMWAFFLING JELLOFLOCKING KOALAHUMPING DICKCUNTING HELL OUT OF THESE GUYS.

OH, AND IF YOU MAKE A PARTICULARLY AMUSING IMAGE TO SEND THEM, REBLOG THIS WITH THAT IMAGE, SO WE CAN ALL SHARE IN THE FUN!

LET’S NOT ONLY MAKE SOME FUCKING NOISE, PEOPLE - LET’S SPAM SOME ASSHOLES.

"When you really think about it the whole hetero-normative [1] dialogue around young women’s sexual lives is couched in the language of monetary transactions: you lose your virginity the way you lose money when the market crashes. You save yourself for marriage the way you might hoard pennies and dimes to chip away at your college tuition. Your virginity is a gift for your future husband.

All of this language implies that your worth is between your legs - and it’s worth a lot, it’s worth everything. If you don’t have it then you’re not worth taking home. “The type of girls that would sleep with you in a heartbeat aren't the type of girls i’d want to take home anyway.” (And note that verb - “take.”)

But nowhere in any of this is there talk of this thing between your legs being valuable to you. You can save, and save, and save, and finally spend, and you’ve either given a man a gift or you've lost everything.

When you save up, or when you give something away, don’t you get something in return? Or are you just there to have a gift taken from you?

When you have sex for the first time - consensually, on your own terms - the fact is that you don’t lose anything. You are not less than you were the night before. If anything, you've gained something, a new experience, deeper understanding of yourself and of another person. You are not tarnished and you are not impure. You are the same person you always were."

[Hetero-normativity refers to the body of lifestyle norms that hold that people fall into distinct and complementary genders (man and woman) with natural roles in life. It presumes that heterosexuality is the only sexual orientation or only norm, and states that sexual and marital relations are most (or only) fitting between people of opposite sexes. Consequently, a "heteronormative" view is one that involves alignment of biological sex, sexuality, gender identity, and gender roles (e.g feminine women and masculine men). Heteronormativity is linked to heterosexism and homophobia. Heteronormative views denotes or relates to a world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation.]

It's kind of really late (like nearly a month late, sue me, I was having Prelims), but.

Let's talk about this.

Let's talk about what's wrong with this entire mess is the VMAs, what she did wrong, what she didn't do wrong, everything.

Robin Thicke has faced like no f*cking repercussions because of his and Miley’s performance. I spent ages thinking Miley was the only person performing before I’d seen it because everyone was so busy calling her a “slut” and not focusing on the creepy 36-year-old married man with kids pretending to fuck her whilst singing a song that glorifies rape bye

We'll tackle the misogynistic part of this mess first (even though intersectionality is just as important, kids!) because it's easier to understand.

(oh good lord I only just found out about Robin Thicke I've never HEARD of Blurred Lines before Robin Thicke is such a f*cking douchebag wtf is wrong with this world)

DETOUR TO WHY ROBIN THICKE SUCKSWell, that may be a tad too harsh, but-

Luckily enough, my last post was about rape culture. And his song 'Blurred Lines' (BL) actually constitutes part of rape culture. (To be quite honest though, that last post was kind of wrongly named, because I didn't delve into rape culture.) For those who have never heard the song BL before (I'm assuming y'all have, and just didn't tell me that the song was utterly misogynistic and promotes rape), these are part of the lyrics:Just let me liberate you / You don't need no papers / That man is not your maker /And that's why I'm gon' take a

Tried to domesticate ya / but you're an animal

I know you want it / But you're a good girl / The way you grab me / Must wanna get nasty

He don't smack that ass/ And pull your hair like that

I'll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two

UM. WHAT?Let's address the last one first: "I'll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two." I don't know about you, ladies, but I don't want my ass to be torn in two. I know, I know, you men and your stupid ideas of masculinity (which, by the way, if you complain about, remember that your "rules of masculinity" were first put in place to PUT WOMEN IN PLACE

women are literally raised to be subordinate and malnourished and live in fear of murder and rape so no i am not going to feel bad for men having to live up to masculinity which were set in place by men to, again, keep women subordinate

you are literally complaining about having the better end of the stick and it makes me sick to my stomach you can choke on your spoon)

equate big dicks to being masculine, but really??? I don't know about you, but penetrative sex is not supposed to be painful, or harmful.

The rest of the lyrics give an impression of men "owning" women- the damsel in distress trope, where without men, women can't do much; "let me liberate you" implies that she needs a man's help to be "liberated"- a man is capable, etc, etc, the only one who can be responsible for her. An abusive relationship or an unequal (without explicit permission of both parties, in this case, the female's permission) relationship is the only "proper" relationship to have is implied, too "he don't smack that ass/ and pull your hair like that" It's hard to put into words (tbh most of this blog is a mashup of other blogs and posts I'm not actually that eloquent) but read the highlighted lyrics; furthermore, the lyrics imply that what the woman actually opines does not matter (and that's why I'm gonna take ya). (I know you want it) implies that it doesn't matter if the woman says "no" explicitly, because, the guy just knows she wants it. Did guys suddenly become mind-readers or?

Mr. Thicke dismisses this all though, saying that he and T.I and Pharell do not mean any of that. His defense?That he was happily married with children. Somehow, that totally makes the song message of "no doesn't always mean no" and that women are lesser beings, A-Okay.

Because all three of us are happily married with children, we were like, 'We're the perfect guys to make fun of this.' People say, 'Hey, do you think this is degrading to women?' I'm like, 'Of course it is. What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I've never gotten to do that before. I've always respected women.' (taken from Wikipedia)Mr Thicke, what do you say then, about the people who don't know any of that? The impressionable teenage boys and men think anything of date-rape, the females who will be led to believe that it's okay if the men continues pursuing her even if she says "no".

This is turning slightly messy, so I'll stop here. If any of you are still confused about why Robin Thicke's hit single is so offensive, feel free to approach me in school (we can have a discussion, yay!) or ask me on Twitter.

(I am already so sick of writing this good god)

MILEY, OH, MILEY
So what did Miley do wrong, exactly?

I think that was really, really disturbing. That young lady, who is 20, is obviously deeply troubled, deeply disturbed, clearly has confidence issues, probably eating disorder and I don’t think anybody should have put her on stage. That was disgusting and embarrassing … That was not attractive. That was not fun. That was not funny. That was really, really bad for anybody who’s younger and impressionable and she’s really messed up … The whole thing was cringe worthy but I feel bad for her. She is a mess. Someone needs to take care of her. Someone needs not to put her on stage and make a complete fool of herself.

Above is a transcript of Morning Joe, one of the many talk shows that would, the day after, have a field day discussing Miley's "racy" performance.

But, see, that's slut-shaming.

What Miley didn't do wrong was being "slutty" aka sexually provocative (first of all, let people do what they want?? And if it's not what you think is "right", well then, go HOME)

here are some valid criticisms of miley:

she uses black women as accessories

she has claimed twerking as her own

she portrays black women as animals

here are some invalid criticisms of miley:

she’s acting like a slut/ho/whore/trash

she’s disappointing her father

her ass is too small

k thx

More links you can go to, should you choose, because I'm sick of covering this issue and I didn't do a good a job as these posts did:

Thursday, 29 August 2013

For those of you who know me, I'm always harping on about something or the other- and this phrase, "rape culture" is something that enters my vocabulary occasionally. What is this "rape culture" you speak of, then?

Well, for starters, it's something that's preeeeeeeeeeetty prevalent in society. It's kind of inescapable, in fact- there's so many things that I can point out that will make you go all Macklemore (wut wut wut wut wut), because really, it's so integrated into our selves that we simply do not realise it anymore. But for a fair definition of what rape culture is, basically:

"[Rape culture] is a culture in which people who have survived a violent crime are asked to laugh about it because other people think it's funny."

However, this definition doesn't even begin to cover all aspects of rape culture, or help define it that much more, really. Because the startling revelation of the day is this: rape isn't about uncontrollable sexual desire. (honestly I don't even know how to highlight that more than what I've already done)

You only have to listen into a Call of Duty game to see that. When the kid crows, "I raped you!", he's not calling the other guy sexy; he's saying he defeated him, dominated him, humiliated him. That's what rape is about, and that should scare you.

Here's a jab at how easy it is for rape not to exist:

Then there are the scum of the earth who think that rape can be blamed on the victim (notice here, how I said victim: it does not necessarily need to be a woman, although in most cases it is). "She was drunk!" they'll say. "We've had sex before!" they'll cry. "She was wearing almost nothing," they'll protest.

If a woman's house house was forcibly entered, let's say, without her consent, no one would go up to her and say "maybe if you house didn't look so expensive this wouldn't have happened, you should have made it looked less wealthy". So why is it when someone forcibly enters a woman without her consent they say “if you didn’t dress like a slut this wouldn’t have happened, you should dress more modestly”?

Let's reinforce this, one last time:

Really, when men are trying to blame the victim here, you should be ashamed. I am shaking my head at you in disgust. All you are saying is that you cannot be controlled, that you are such a pathetic being with no control or willpower whatsoever over your desires that your natural form is a rapist.

If that's the case, then why not blindfold the men? There is actually a study (I can't find the link now, don't look at me like that, the Internet is distracting and research is elusive also I have 23K posts on my blog so, no, I can't f*cking find it ok you little shits) (the stress is getting to me forgive me) of how professors and leaders from various religions (priests, rabbis, etc) are suggesting that men be given curfews during times when females are usually in public, or being made to be accompanied by two female friends or family members at all times, or going to the extent of being blindfolded. Yes, it's extreme, but the important thing is that no one gets raped here. Why pressure females to dress "more conservatively", when it's the men who are at fault here?

This should be really obvious for some of you, but for the rest, it might come as a shock- or some are still questioning the "why"s of not blaming the victim. Alright then, it's time to introduce a thing called:

CONSENT.

Consent is really f*cking important for everything. Consent is an explicit "yes". Consent means that both parties have agreed to sex (although consent can apply to other things as well) (side note:

it’s really irritating when people try to use consent as this blanket excuse for everything they do. You’re unnecessarily confusing people because you want to validate your argument about something sexual but unrelated to consent.

Consent MEANS it’s not coerced sex. It’s not rape. It’s not sexual assault. That’s all consent gets you. Consent is not some miracle concept that makes racist situations not racist, ableist jokes not ableist. Two white people can’t “consent” away a racist kink being racist. Stop using it that way… it’s not your card to get out of I’m-an-asshole-jail free. And half the time all anyone is saying is “use critical thought in this situation like any situation.” And it’s DEFINITELY not your immune-from-critique card.)

It's frightening to hear that some people are of the opinion that you don't need this for sex. Look, folks- there's nothing wrong with sex. You can:

- have sex every day.
- save sex for your wedding night.
- never have sex.
- have sex with different people.
- have sex with one person.
- have sex with a person of your same gender.
- love sex.
- hate sex.
- be loud.
- be quiet.

The only thing wrong with sex?

When it’s not consensual.

Because that’s not sex. that’s rape.

(this should probably be saved for a sex positivity post but ehhhhh)

This should be really f*cking scary to hear then, that there are some people who think rape is okay. RAPE IS NEVER OKAY. (Unless you're into kinky role-playing, or summat.) It's about time that we learn that it's not, because it's easy to forget that most people have opinions on things that stem from perpetuated notions society gives us. For example, a girl who has sex is a slut. Or, if she's your girlfriend/wife, it's not rape. Well, we need to start having proper sexual education systems, because really, teaching this kind of shizz is important, yo. Look, just look:

I-

I don't even know what to say, man.

So, men out there, (and women), please please PLEASE take a few things from this tl;dr post (idk are my posts tl;dr? I try not to make it so):